Spot Bitcoin ETF filers continue to make necessary preparations and adjustments in hopes of imminent approval by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). As part of these preparations, asset manager Fidelity Investments has gotten its fund listed on the Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC) website.
Fidelity’s Spot Bitcoin ETF Ticker Also Revealed
Crypto outlet Bitcoin Magazine first made this development of the DTCC listing known in an X (formerly Twitter) post. Fidelity’s ticker for its Spot Bitcoin ETF was also revealed as it will be trading with the ‘FBTC’ ticker. Commenting on this development, Bloomberg analyst Eric Balchunas noted that almost all the issuers have now revealed their tickers.
With that almost out of the way, Balchunas mentioned that the next thing to keep an eye on is the fees that these filers will set for their ETF offering. This information might, however, not come anytime soon as the analyst stated that this will likely be a last-minute decision before launch as issuers will be reluctant to show their hand.
This is also very likely considering that the fees may be what give these issuers a competitive edge over others if the SEC eventually approves all applications simultaneously. If the SEC does that, no one gets a first-mover advantage and will have to resort to other means to attract investors and gain a huge chunk of the market share.
Meanwhile, it is worth mentioning that Fidelity joins a host of other issuers that have had their Spot Bitcoin ETF listed on the DTCC website. BlackRock had theirs listed as far back as October, while the Invesco Galaxy Bitcoin ETF was listed on the site in November. However, these listings don’t necessarily mean that the SEC will approve these funds.
When These ETFs Could Launch
Bloomberg analysts James Seyffart and Eric Balchunas have constantly hammered on the fact that these ETFs won’t instantly launch upon SEC approval. This is because there are apparently two parts that need to be cleared before these funds can launch.
The first is the approval of the 19b-4, which could happen in January. The SEC’s Division of Corporation Finance will then need to sign off on the S-1 filings. Scott Johnsson, a notable attorney from Davis Polk, believes that the sign-off should come almost immediately after the 19b-4 approval.
He mentioned that the SEC would have waited until the 19b-4 approvals before handling the second part if it wanted to “max delay.” However, considering that issuers have already started filing their S-1s, he predicts that a launch just a week after the 19b-4 approvals is very likely.